Live Life Fearlessly

DEBT FREE EDUCATION

Every year or so I contemplate whether or not to go to University and get a degree. Every year something happens and the process gets delayed. However, every year I keep reading about successful people and entrepreneurs who for-went a college degree but become very successful.

I am not saying having a college degree doesn’t have its benefits, however being debt free has even more benefits. A majority of people who got a major, went on to get a career in a different field, or are struggling to find a career in their field. Even finding out that they are no longer interested in working in the field that they achieved a degree.

Having a degree is great if you want to be an employee, want to work for a large or small corporation. If you want to work a 9 to 5 and have a steady income with very little changes except when it’s time for evaluations, promotions and raises. If that is the life you seek, it will make sense and benefit you to get a degree, even a Masters.

However, a lot of younger people in their 20’s and and 30’s are breaking from the traditional way of learning. We are realising that there are tools at our fingertips that equips us with the opportunity to learn what is taught in college for free or a fraction of the cost. You can learn any major you want without going into debt. There are many websites and companies that offer courses on careers that are currently on demand. The great thing about these new courses is that they are constantly changing with demand. You don’t have to worry about the skills you gain becoming outdated.

A few companies offering courses or information free to $29.99 a month are shareskills, Acorns investing, Stash investing, TED talk and Linkedin Learning. Off course there’s always Youtube, where you can learn every and anything. In the future I’m going to review and discuss the companies I just mentioned and how you can gain new skills without leaving the comfort of your computer screen. If you had the option to learn while going debt free from the comfort of your own home vs a very expensive college degree you have to take out loans or jump through hoops to qualify for grants and scholarships to pay a portion with chances of losing grants or scholarship if you have a bad semester. Which would you choose?

There are countries where education is free. I’m just saying. Learn at your own expense.